Guthrie wins three-person playoff in Monday qualifier, earns spot in this week’s PGA Tour stop

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — Luke Guthrie is back on the PGA Tour, at least for one week.

After shooting a 4-under 68 in Monday’s qualifier for the Valspar Championship, the Quincy native found himself in a three-way tie for fourth with only the top four scores earning the chance to tee it up in this week’s PGA Tour event.

Guthrie and Mickey DeMorat both parred the first playoff hole at Southern Hills Plantation Club, while Patrick Flavin took a bogey and was eliminated. On the second playoff hole, both golfers missed the green with their approach shots — Guthrie to the right, DeMorat to the left.

The Quincy High School Hall of Famer got up-and-down for par, rolling in a 6-foot putt to win the playoff and guarantee himself a spot in the 156-player field Thursday.

This will be Guthrie’s first PGA Tour start in nearly three years. The Valspar Championship, which will have five of the top 13 golfers in the world rankings in the field, will be played on the Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Palm Harbor, Fla.

Guthrie’s round of 4-under 68 Monday featured five birdies and one bogey. He played the front nine in 3-under, made a bogey on the par-4 10th and rolled in birdies on the par-5 12th and par-4 15th to get within one shot of the lead.

Three players tied for first at 5-under 67 and earned spots in the Valspar field.

Guthrie has conditional status on the Korn Ferry Tour this season and has played in one event this season. He carded consecutive rounds of 69 in the Astara Golf Championship in mid-February, finishing at 3-under and missing the cut by a stroke.

Since finishing 175th in the FedEx Cup standings in 2016, Guthrie has fought to get back to the PGA Tour. He has played in only one FedEx Cup event in the past five seasons, qualifying for the 2019 U.S. Open, where he shot back-to-back rounds of 75 and missed the cut.

An All-American at the University of Illinois and two-time Big Ten Conference champion, Guthrie owns seven top-10 finishes and 22 top-25 showings in his PGA Tour career. He finished in the top five three times — third at the Honda Classic in 2013, fifth at the John Deere Classic in 2012 and fifth in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in 2013.

He has played in the Valspar Championship twice, finishing tied for seventh in 2015 and 81st in 2014. In 2013, Guthrie missed the cut in the Tampa Bay Championship, which was the precursor to the Valspar Championship and played on the same course.